Is there any possibility this deck is competitive enough for a large tournament?
Modern forum
Posted on May 23, 2017, midnight by icehit6
For those of you who don't know I've recently been working on an Esper Death's Shadow combo based deck.
If you haven't seen it, go on my profile and check it out - essentially its an aggro combo deck that can be worked into a delver death's shadow in the sideboard.
Is there any possibility that it could be successful in an open tournament setting? Meaning something like an SCG Open - I'm looking to go to one this summer and I want to know what it's like to be in a large modern tournament.
As well as, it would be my first very large tournament, so what's it like at big events like this?
Any info on what the events are like? And what do you recommend for sideboard - Game two I generally look to go into a more midrange control so that's why I have the things I do in there.
May 23, 2017 1:37 a.m.
Plunge into Death! Esper Death's Shadow Turn 2 Win
Modern
SCORE: 43 | 21 COMMENTS | 4453 VIEWS | IN 23 FOLDERS
May 23, 2017 8:14 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #5
You have to ask yourself, what matches are cards like Thought Scour going to improve??? None? Okay, it's not worth the SB space. The SB should not be deck extensions but cards that improve your match ups against things your weak against. In your case Control of both flavors. I'd also imagine your Burn match is pretty tough.
So for decks like BG/x I would recommend Suppression Field, Bile Blight/Marrow Shards, and stronger grave hate like Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace. Leyline of Sanctity and Pithing Needle are also valid choices.
As far as traditional control goes, you're really in a bad position. The best SB cards against it are in green (Choke, Thrun, the Last Troll) and the manland game plan isn't particularly viable for you either. Lastly your threat density isn't enough to not have to worry about counters. Hopefully someone else can offer up a viable option for you.
Burn is an easy fix. Dragon's Claw.
A few other cards I would suggest to consider are Anguished Unmaking as a 1 of, Illness in the Ranks, more copies of Stony Silence, and possibly Hurkyl's Recall (can be great vs Affinity but also Infect).
As far as Eldrazi goes. Fulminator Mage and Damnation are good but I feel like your deck can't support those cards. Pithing Needle hits quite a bit of things in their deck (including Oblivion Stone).
May 23, 2017 11:32 a.m.
I think you would benefit from playing Delver of Secrets Flip in the deck. Or, in other words, play more like a Delver deck with Death's Shadow rather than a Zoocide deck with control elements. Trying to win on turn 2 consistently in a large tournament is going to be a problem. You're going up against a variety of different decks. If you're going all-in on a combo, you're gonna eventually lose to a deck like Jund Midrange or Grixis Control when you inevitably run into them at a large event.
One of the guys at my shop has done really well playing such a list. You can play a turn 1 Delver of Secrets Flip or Thoughtseize, then lock your opponent out of the game with Remands, Mana Leak, and Stubborn Denial. The best part is you have Death's Shadow to inevitably wreck your opponent's day.
Here is what (I think) his decklist looks like:
Suicide Delver
Modern*
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That's one of the reasons I would play Esper Death's Shadow over the regular all-in version of the deck. Right now, you're not taking full advantage of the colors you're in except for Snapcaster Mage, Path to Exile, and Lingering Souls.
My suggestions may be too much to test in a short time frame if you're planning on going to a large event soon. I agree with APPLE01DOJ that your sideboard needs work. It's the best way to prepare for a large event without changing much.
I'd suggest something like:
2x Stony Silence
2x Kor Firewalker
1x Spellskite
1x Lost Legacy
1x Hibernation
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Timely Reinforcements
2x Countersquall
1x Murderous Cut
1x Nihil Spellbomb
May 23, 2017 6:37 p.m.
Alright that makes sense. I'm really looking to keep the combo aspect of it because the pieces offer more than just a combo. I do agree though, the sideboard needs quite some work and I wasn't sure how to work with it so that's why I included some delve aspects to it. I'm not sure about delver of secrets though - I know that the delver shadows version is really strong, I just don't like the way the deck felt.
I'll be changing that tonight.
The deck isn't looking to kill on turn two consistently, however, it can do that. It more plays like a hand and board control deck that just beats face. Playing it online against other people and playing kitchen table modern it has fared well with other competitive deck. It just falls apart versus junk and control. Burn it's actually not terrible against because it allows me to get my deaths shadow out earlier, and I can manage with what I've got for control.
APPLE01DOJ says... #2
MB is viable, SB needs a lot of work.
May 23, 2017 1:26 a.m.